By Tom Vance

Daily Correspondent

Former ISU student Alison Ciancio was home in Pennsylvania for Christmas in 2002 when she was killed by a drunk driver.

For the third year after her death, the Dairy Science Club is planning a 5K run/walk and a pancake breakfast in her memory. The event will take place Saturday morning at the ISU cross country trail, southwest of Towers.

Most of the students in Ciancio’s class have graduated, but she is not forgotten on campus.

“She was a student that inspired other students,” said Howard Tyler, associate professor of animal science and Ciancio’s adviser in the Dairy Science Club. “She always had a big smile on her face. She was the person people called for a friend. She had time for everyone.”

She was elected to the executive team of the club a month before her death, Tyler said. When classes resumed, she would have been planning club activities and the club agenda for the following year, he said.

“Mostly, she was the inspirational leader for the club,” he said.

Her death resonated so deeply among the members of the Dairy Science Club, they initiated a memorial scholarship, he said.

Throughout the academic year, the club does fundraisers for the scholarship, including an online auction in the spring and a fall 5K run.

The money raised from the events is used to fund the scholarship that is given away along with other awards every spring at the Dairy Science Club banquet, said Katie Zumbach, senior in dairy science and club president.

The scholarship is for $2,000, but Zumbach said this year the club would like to give two scholarships. The scholarship is open for anyone in the club and does not have to go to a Dairy Science major.

Zumbach said the scholarship goes to a candidate who portrays similar personality traits to Ciancio’s.

The 5K run/walk and breakfast was Alison’s parents’ idea, and they will be in attendance at the event Saturday, she said.

The run is set to begin at 9 a.m. and breakfast will be served at 10 a.m., Zumbach said. The event is open to everyone. The run/walk and breakfast is $20 for anyone over 16, otherwise it is $10, she said. The pancakes and juice are $5 for adults and $2.50 for children 12 and under.